The Fermented Man: A Year on the Front Lines of a Food Revolution

by Derek Dellinger

Overview

On January 1, 2014, homebrewer and writer Derek Dellinger began a journey that would change everything he thought he knew about fermented food and beverage. For an entire year, Dellinger ate and drank only products that had been created by microbes. Exploring the vast world of fermentation, he became the living embodiment of its cultural and nutritional power—he became the Fermented Man.In this highly entertaining narrative, Dellinger catalogs his year spent on this unorthodox diet, revealing insights about the science of fermentation as well as its cultural history, culinary value, and nutritional impact. All the while, readers accompany Dellinger as he forages for living bacteria in the modern American grocery store, samples mucousy green Century Eggs in Chinatown, and embarks on an epic quest to Iceland for rotten shark meat, investigating a realm of forgotten foods that is endlessly complex and surprisingly flavorful. With bonus recipes for readers eager to get off the page and into the kitchen, The Fermented Man is an adventure story, culinary history, and science project all in one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781468314854
Publisher:	Abrams Press
Publication date:	05/16/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Derek Dellinger is a writer, brewer, and fermentation enthusiast based in the Hudson Valley. He is the brewmaster at Kent Falls Brewing Company, the first farmhouse brewery in the state of Connecticut. Derek also writes about fermentation, food, and beer for a number of publications, including his blog, bear-flavored.com.

Sean Crisden is a multitalented actor and an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator who has recorded audiobooks in almost every genre, from science fiction to romance. He has also voiced characters in numerous video games and appeared in many commercials and films, including The Last Airbender.

Table of Contents

Introduction: So You Can Eat Cheese? 1

Chapter 1 Amateur Jar Enthusiast 15

Chapter 2 Life Inside the Average American Grocery Store 26

Chapter 3 Fermented Cucumbers Are in a Real Pickle 40

Chapter 4 At Least I Won't Get Scurvy 63

Chapter 5 Sowing Season 81

Chapter 6 Kefir and Loathing in the Hudson Valley 98

Chapter 7 How Wild Ales Got Squashed 119

Chapter 8 The More It Smells Like a Goat, the Better 145

Chapter 9 Differences Between White Bread and Cotton Candy 169

Chapter 10 Taking Cartman's Advice 195

Chapter 11 Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Rotten Fish 224

Chapter 12 After the Fermented Man 249

Acknowledgments 265

Recipes 267

Editorial Reviews

Derek Dellinger has crafted a personal tale that is much in keeping with what we are as humans. Fermented foods and beverages have been fundamental to the human condition since we first appeared in the Paleolithic period on the planet, and have much to do with what we are today, physically and culturally.

Patrick E. McGovern

In this tell-all food memoir, Dellinger recounts the highs and lows of the experiment, delves into the science and history of fermentation, and examines its culinary value and nutritional impact. With an engaging writing style and keen sense of humor, he jumps into Michael Pollan food territory with a Hemingwayesque sense of personal adventure

Chronogram

"Dellinger ably explains the wide range of fermented foods, the role flavor plays, health benefits, and the basic processes, and he includes a few recipes." ---Kirkus

From the Publisher

Do not think that Derek Dellinger's fifty-two weeks eating only fermented food translated into a year of deprivation, a year of sauerkraut and yogurt; cheese, pastrami, salami, corned beef, prosciutto, gravlaks, sourdough bread, cultured butter, and of course beer, wine, and kombucha are all fermented foods, so his task was fun, doable—and healthy! And since true fermented foods are mostly produced by artisans, the move back to healthy food and interesting flavors will naturally favor small local production over factory-produced food-like substances. A very enjoyable read for those on the real food journey.

Sally Fallon Morell

2016-05-05
A quest to live for a year on "100 percent…fermented meals and fermented drinks."Most people would quickly abandon the idea of eating only one type of food for a year. Writer and brewer Dellinger first contemplated eating only fermented foods for a year as a thought experiment rather than an achievable challenge. Like many, the author was vexed about the American diet and knew that there was something wrong at the core of the food system. However, he was also confused about what made for a truly healthy diet. Dellinger began reading about the roles of microbes living in our bodies and the environment they create. He also had a solid foundation for starting his yearlong project: for several years, he had been absorbed with the home-brewing of cider, beer, and kombucha and was "enamored of fermentation and the myriad transformational possibilities it represented." Dellinger ably explains the wide range of fermented foods, the role flavor plays, health benefits, and the basic processes, and he includes a few recipes. Citing his passion for craft beers as the impetus for his experimentation with fermented foods, the author offers a theory called the "Triangle of Simple Complex Foods." The most recognizable foods within this concept are beer, bread, and cheese. All are fermented and require numerous steps in their preparation. Now mass-produced and marketed, the most crucial component of their being, fermentation, has been marginalized. Throughout the book, the author delves into the strangeness of the American system of nutrition—e.g., the demonization of butter and the promotion of margarine as a viable substitute or the confusion regarding cholesterol and heart health. Dellinger notes his year of consuming fermented foods was not without psychological ups and downs, but the journey was tempered by the knowledge he gained concerning microbes and gut health. The author hopes his intriguing experiments will open eyes and palates to the culinary and health benefits of fermented foods.

Kirkus Reviews